The Longitude Prize

Dash, Joan. The Longitude Prize.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York: 2000. 200 pages. Tr. $16.00 ISBN 0374346364

Annotation

The Longitude Prize is the story of John Harrison, the man who accomplished the seemingly impossibility of calculating longitude in the eighteenth century. 

Review

Joan Dash’s The Longitude Prize recounts the life of Englishman John Harrison who spent the greater part of his life attempting to perfect a sea clock which would allow sailors to determine their longitude when on the open ocean.  In the 1700’s clocks were still hard to come by and difficult to construct, which is why it is all the more amazing that Harrison taught himself to construct clocks and highly accurate clocks at that.  Dash explains that one way sailors calculated longitude in the eighteenth century was by using time.  However, clocks depended on a balanced pendulum to keep accurate time and the pitch of a ship would through off the balance of a clock, making it impossible to accurately tell time while at sea.  Calculating longitude was of such importance that British Parliament formed the Longitude Board who offered a prize to anyone who could come up with an accurate method of calculating longitude at sea.  After designing highly accurate clocks on land, Harrison made it his life’s mission to develop a sea clock which would allow sailors to calculate their longitude.  Though the Longitude Board never officially recognized his achievement and it took the better part of his life to perfect, Harrison did indeed succeed in creating such a clock.

Awards/Honors

ALSC Notable Book 2001

Sibert Honor Book 2001

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Afterword, Glossary, Timeline, Bibliography, Index

Author’s Website

None

Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop

Greenberg, Jan and Jordan, Sandra. Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop.  Delacorte Press, New York: 2004. 200 pages. Tr. $16.95 ISBN 038573056X

Annotation

Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop is a biography of one of the 20^th centuries best known and most controversial artists, Andy Warhol. 

Review

I studied art history as an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara, but at the time my focus was on the Baroque artists in Italy and modern, female Islamic artist, so I started Greenberg and Jordan’s book with very little knowledge of the cultural icon, Andy Warhol.  Warhol was a very interesting character and refused to conform to other people’s ideas of what he should be or what his art should be.  While Warhol’s Factory became synonymous with drugs and the counter culture movement, Warhol himself never participated in taking drugs and in fact rarely drank alcohol.  His effeminate style and his openness about his homosexual lifestyle drew attention to Warhol, but his critics focused on his art.  They did not understand the messages he was trying to convey in painting seemingly mundane objects like a can of soup or how his film would later be seen as the precursor to today’s reality television.  Warhol was a truly innovative artist, ahead of his times and never afraid to tackle a new medium or challenge. 

I was disappointed with the layout and design of Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop.  Andy Warhol is such an iconic and inspirational subject.  I would have liked to seen page designs and titles that matched his artistic style.  As great example of how book design can be tied to a subject is Ann Angel’s Rise Up Singing, in which the pages feature colorful borders reminiscent of the psychedelic art movement that coincided with the psychedelic music movement that Joplin was a part of. 

Awards/Honors

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2005

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Important Dates, Selected Films by Andy Warhol, Books by Andy Warhol, Glossary, Notes, Sources, Photography Credits, Index

Author’s Website

http://www.jangreenbergsandrajordan.com/

Getting Away with Murder: the True Story of the Emmett Till Case

Crowe, Chris. Getting Away With Murder: the True Story of the Emmett Till Case.  Phyllis Fogelman Books, New York: 2003. 128 pages. Tr. $18.99 ISBN 0803728042

Annotation

Getting Away with Murder is the story of murder of 14 year old Emmett Till and the subsequent acquittal of the murderers and how this trial helped launch the civil rights movement.

 

Review

Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy visiting Mississippi from Chicago in the summer of 1955.  It was while visiting family that this young boy was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night, tortured, and horrendously murdered by two white men for whistling at a white lady.  Till’s horrifying murder and the photograph of his bloated and beaten body in Jet magazine, outraged the African American community and sparked the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.  What is most unfortunate about Emmett’s murder is that it is often left out of American history texts.  Till’s story is important because it reminds us of injustice and racism that once existed in this country and why it is important to stand up to bullies and fight for what is honorable and right. 

Awards/Honors

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2004

Front and Back Matter

TOC, Acknowledgments, Time Line, Bibliography, Additional Resources

Author’s Website

http://www.chriscrowe.com/